Spoiler Alert?

Balancing Spoilers as a Parent

Posted on April 12, 2017

Spoiler Alert?

Balancing Spoilers as a Parent

Posted on April 12, 2017

Over a few days last week our daughter finally got around to watching Zootopia. She loves Shakira’s Try Everything and has watched the YouTube video more times than I can count. But she has a very hard time watching any sort of sadness/danger/tension onscreen, and therefore we’ve had to turn off seemingly innocuous movies because she’s so sensitive to those sorts of things.

Jamie Todd Rubin recently wrote a piece on spoilers that got me thinking about our daughter and her experience with movies. Although I generally agree with his anti-spoiler premise, I have found that sharing some spoilers helps her get through parts of the movie where she’d normally turn off the TV out of fear or anxiety.

Giving her reassurance that the scene that is bothering her isn’t real, and that the protagonist makes it through ok, has helped her push through several movies that we’d previously tried. Yes, I give my daughter spoilers, but in doing so I ease her worries and concerns and allow her to enjoy the movie.